The Conversation

I always love a story where new technology sheds light on a historical mystery.

UCLA archaeologist Justin Dunnavant and his colleagues are using mapping technology that has become available only in the past few years to find a 300-year-old settlement of escaped slaves, known as Maroons, on the island of St. Croix.

Until now, the only accounts of these Maroons are from the perspective of Danish settlers and missionaries. The evidence of the Maroon settlement Dunnavant is searching for will help fill in the story from the perspective of the escapees themselves. It could also shed light on how they managed to make a life for themselves while hiding from the Danish settlers in the most difficult terrain on the island.

The timing of this search is important: Just this month, the local government purchased the acreage where the settlement is believed to be located and designated it a U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Park. Archaeologists hope to use any artifacts they find to create an exhibit that will honor the legacy of the Maroons.

Also in this week’s science news:

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Katie Flood

Contributing Editor
The red square on this 1767 map of St. Croix marks where Danes believed the Maroon settlement was. Paul Kuffner/Royal Danish Library

Escaped slaves on St. Croix hid their settlements so well, they still haven’t been found – archaeologists using new mapping technology are on the hunt

Justin Dunnavant, University of California, Los Angeles

As many as 10% of enslaved people on St. Croix escaped. Where they went has remained a mystery, but scientists are using new mapping technology to find answers.
Grocery stores are a common source of tantrums and meltdowns. Cavan Images/Cavan via Getty Images

Parenting strategies are shifting as neuroscience brings the developing brain into clearer focus

Nancy L. Weaver, Saint Louis University

Old-school parenting strategies like ‘go to your room!’ can often amplify the very behavior that parents want to correct.
Some portable air cleaners generate chemicals such as ozone, formaldehyde and hydroxyl radicals to kill microbes. ArtistGNDphotography/E+ via Getty Images

Most air cleaning devices have not been tested on people − and little is known about their potential harms, new study finds

Amiran Baduashvili, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Lisa Bero, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Manufacturers often make bold claims about how well these technologies work. Better testing would allow consumers and institutions to pick the most effective ones.

Wildfire disasters are increasingly in the news, yet less land is burning globally – here’s why

Mojtaba Sadegh, Boise State University; John Abatzoglou, University of California, Merced; Seyd Teymoor Seydi, Boise State University

Even though you may mostly hear about fires in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, it’s Africa that has far and away the most acreage burned and people exposed to fire.

How federal officials talk about health is shifting in troubling ways – and that change makes me worried for my autistic child

Megan Donelson, University of Dayton

By blaming chronic disease and disability on food and toxins, and ‘just asking questions’ about widely accepted science, MAHA discounts the government’s responsibility for meeting disabled peoples’ needs.

The first stars may not have been as uniformly massive as astronomers thought

Luke Keller, Ithaca College

Two new studies challenge scientists’ previous theories on how the very first stars in the universe formed.

Vikings were captivated by silver – our new analysis of their precious loot reveals how far they travelled to get it

Jane Kershaw, University of Oxford

New analysis of silver items in the Bedale hoard reveals Scandinavians travelled to the east to trade much earlier than previously thought.